The Aftermath
by TipperKuu
Summary: SasuNaruSaku - Team 7 has been through some rough stuff. Now age 19/20, the team is faced with their greatest challanges ever. Including who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to love. - SasuNaru/NaruSaku/SasuSaku


The Aftermath

SasuNaruSaku

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**Full Summary: **Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke have always been Team 7. After years of trying to get Sasuke back, the two finally succeed. Now 19 / 20 years-old; the team is in shambles. As they try to reconstruct their lives to what they formerly were they're all faced with having to choose who they want to be and who they want to be _with_. What will they decide when everyone loves someone else? Will they even be able to remain friends...?

**A/N: **The reason for this story is that I wanted something to do with the ninja world...and Sakura, because lately she seems cooler to me. Oh, and I don't care how the actual anime ends because; _I haven't seen that far_! So, if you do know how it ends, I'd appreciate it if you kept your comments to yourself. Please and thank you!

**Disclaimer: **I am currently in court with Kishimoto on this one. So far, he has overwhelming evidence that they are in fact his; but I'm determined! I'll keep you posted!

**Warnings: **minor spoilers (nothing that most don't already know), angst (well duh, angst! Sasuke's in it; is he not?), crappy first chapter, slight shounen-ai later, etc. I'll post warnings for each chappie, so no need to worry.

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**Chapter One**

**Used To Be**

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_It's been three years, four months, and sixteen days since Sasuke returned._

Haruno Sakura quickly ran a brush through her unruly pink locks, trying her best to smooth out the rats-nest her bed had made of her hair. After several strokes she slowly lowered her brush back onto the sink, the entire time staring at her reflection intently.

_Whenever I'm away from him my head pounds, but when I look at him my heart feels like it's going to leap out of my chest..._

Her brush clattered slightly as she let it drop the rest of the way onto the counter. Sakura barely heard it, as her mind was too preoccupied. Her hand slowly moved towards her reflection, connecting her fingertips with the cold glass where her face was reflected. She could hear her heart beating in her ears as her hand began to shake slightly. Suddenly, she found herself blinking away her tears.

_Please God, don't tell me..._

Sakura's hand closed against the mirror, pressing her first against the cold glass. She closed her eyes lightly, picturing a different world as she ran through all the other possibilities, every time she came back to the same conclusion.

"I still love him..." Sakura whispered to her reflection, half hoping that it would slap her across the face. When no such thing happened, Sakura sighed sadly and left her bathroom with her head hung low.

After opening the door she glanced around her apartment. It was so impersonal it nearly made her cry; white walls barren of any artwork, simple furniture, beige carpeting, and a few pillows on her recently made bed. The only 

personal thing that came into view was her team photo. The old photo always brought a smile to her lips, just remembering how things _used to be_.

Sakura smiled lightly again, somehow finding hope in the past and proceeded to her closet. She pulled a red sundress off the hanger and slipped it over her head before pulling her green leggings on underneath. She placed a fishnet armband on each wrist followed by two black fingerless gloves. Once finished with her usual wardrobe, she quickly pulled her shoes on and finished fastening her ninja tools onto her person. One more quick look in the mirror and she sighed yet again.

Reaching for her hetai-ate, she held the worn fabric in her hands and smiled to herself; thinking of all the memories she had with this hetai-ate. Pushing past her fond and sadistic memories, she haphazardly tied it around her head, pushing her bangs into place next to her face.

As she lowered her hands back down to her sides, she found it hard to pull her gaze from her mirror once more. Her reflection seemed to contradict who she felt was inside. The girl in her mirror always smiled warmly. The girl in the mirror was strong; she'd gotten over the Uchiha boy. The girl in the mirror—evidently; was _not _Haruno Sakura.

!..!..!..!..!..!..!

A devastatingly cold breeze floated through the Uchiha residence, rousing the only living man within two miles of his home. Uchiha Sasuke woke slowly, cursing himself silently for not closing his window. He would no doubt be late for practice; but it didn't matter much now. They wouldn't allow him to go on missions outside the village; he couldn't learn any new jutsu, what was the point?

The young Uchiha sighed, running a hand through his messy black hair as he yawned. His head was throbbing like a bitch; it almost always did when he woke up. His dreams were black, almost non-existent apart from the occasional voice he heard. The Uchiha didn't dream, it was actually rare when he could sleep.

He'd slayed Orochimaru and his brother; avenging the Uchiha clan when he did-so. He'd accomplished everything he'd wanted to ever since he was young. When he'd left for more power, when he cut all his bonds, he never expected that he'd feel this lonely once his task was accomplished. But, then again, Sasuke had never though ahead that far.

His one goal had been all he had; now that it was accomplished he had nothing. All he had cherished in Konoha was gone now. After he'd severed his bonds with them, he hadn't thought that he'd ever have to—much less _want _to—repair them.

The only two people in the village that still offered him a smile were those that had chased him to the ends of the earth and back; begging him to return home.

_Naruto and Sakura..._

Ever since Sasuke had returned to Konoha, they were the only people willing to work with him. Encourage him even. Their actions were undeserved at best, but even so; the two ninja were Sasuke's only friends. They were truly his _best friends_.

In fact, the only reason he even went to practice—though he'd never admit it—was to see those two. It was slightly ironic that the two people he'd worked so hard to separate himself from were the only people still wanting to be with him. No, ironic wasn't the right word. _Sad; _that was the word. He went to practice every morning just so he could spar with them, it was very sad but when sparring was the only human contact he received on a normal basis.

Sasuke needed that human contact; that simple smile; that comforting laugh. He didn't need much, but if the young man needed anything now; it was to feel **human compassion**.

But nowadays it was so hard to come by; Sasuke would probably drown himself just to feel someone dragging his lifeless corpse from the water and attempting to give him mouth-to-mouth just to feel human contact! He hated to think he was that desperate but he really was.

Sasuke dragged his tired body from bed and into his closet; pulling on a loose black shirt with the trademark Uchiha symbol on the back as well as a pair of white shorts. With another deep sigh, he glanced in the mirror giving a dissatisfied grunt before lightly touching his forehead where he normally wore his hetai-ate. Technically, he was no longer a ninja so he no longer had one. But without it he couldn't help but feel slightly naked without it. Grabbing a plain black strip of fabric, he tied it around his forehead like he normally would.

His mind slowly drifted to rest on his old hetai-ate, a long scratch through the middle. His shoulders slumped slightly, remembering every vivid time he'd caused his two friends to cry and now how he depended on them for their touch. God knows how much things had changed.

Sasuke wanted to believe that he'd changed; Naruto and Sakura had so firmly believed it themselves. Part of him didn't want to let them down, the other part wanted to believe it too. He'd spent so long in the shadows he could scarcely look at their smiles. They made him feel sick; knowing that they were still on his side. They should hate him, dammit!

_But they don't..._ Sasuke told himself. _They don't hate me...why don't they hate me!? It would be so much easier if they did! At least I'd understand! I don't understand!_ Sasuke's eyes shut tightly, a new headache coming on.

_I don't understand anything anymore..._

Sasuke sighed once more, sitting down on his bed as his head began to spin. His head often felt this way when he began to think about those two; more specifically; Naruto. Of all the people he'd hurt, he'd defiantly hurt Naruto the most. Why didn't the blonde hate him?

More importantly, why did Sasuke's stomach hurt whenever Naruto smiled at him...?

_...oh dear God... Don't tell me I..._

Sasuke's eye twitched as thoughts and images passed through his mind; why was it that every time he tried to picture Naruto from his memories the images were focused on one aspect of the boy? His bright, large, gorgeous blue eyes; his tanned, toned, stomach; or his ripe, muscled ass!

_Oh my God... I do...!_

The raven-haired man held his throbbing head in his hands as he had—what must have seemed like—an epiphany. The truth fell on him like twenty tons of bricks—if only one of those bricks had killed him.

_I...I have a crush on Naruto..._

As he admitted this to himself for the first time, his stomach churned angrily in his gut and his hand flew up to his mouth.

_I think I'm going to be sick...!_

!..!..!..!..!..!..!

"Ninety-eight...ninety-nine...one hundred...!"

Uzumaki Naruto grunted before dropping to the ground, effectively wiping the sweat from his brow and flicking it off carelessly. The blonde had been awake training already for at least an hour. Naruto grinned to himself, still feeling quote proud that he'd installed his chin-up bar on his own.

Naruto was constantly training nowadays; sill striving to be the greatest. "Heh, I beat my own record..." Naruto mused, glancing at the clock on his way through his maze of discarded clothing and garbage towards his bathroom. As Naruto passed the tiny kitchen he absentmindedly glanced at the clock above the stove. Taking small note of it's time.

When he reached his bathroom, the time clicked in his mind and his eyes widened before he sprinted back to the kitchen, stumbling over his own feet. When his eyes rested on the clock for a moment, they grew exponentially the next.

"Shit! I'm so going to be late! Beat my record, my ass!!" Naruto shouted, sprinting back towards his bathroom.

As he stumbled into his orange pants he glanced in the mirror, upper lip curling slightly. "Well..." Naruto muttered to himself, "Sakura-chan won't want to spar with me if I'm all sweaty..." Naruto reasoned with himself. "B-But I can't be late again! Sakura-chan'll murder me anyways!"

After several moments of contemplating his "serious" situation, Naruto grabbed a washcloth hanging from the wall and soaked it with water, quickly running it all over his torso, face, and hair. Sanitary? Probably not. But at least he wouldn't smell.

Once he'd fixed this problem, Naruto quickly threw on his black mesh shirt and his orange jacket; only zipping it half-way. Quickly looking himself up and down, he smiled and remembered his hetai-ate. After tying it around his forehead, he stopped; slightly dazed by the flood of memories that came when he put it on.

His fist tightened and he grinned at his reflection; "Don't look at me like that, dammit! I'm still going to be the next Hokage! I might have gotten distracted by Sasuke before; but now I'm fully focused! Just you wait. By this time next year you'll be looking at the Rokudaime! Who will also be conveniently engaged to Sakura-chan! There's no way she could resist a Hokage!" Naruto laughed at the thought.

His smile faded slightly. _Could she...?_

An annoyingly loud bird suddenly yanked him from his thoughts and an alarm rang inside his head; he was late for practice _again_!

Cursing under his breath, Naruto sprinted out the door; not bothering to lock up. Really, what did he have worth stealing? _Aw man! Sakura-chan is going to murder me! Hell, even Sasuke-teme will get in on this one! Fifth time late this week, I'm so screwed!_

As Naruto sprinted through the streets his mind wandered back to when he'd brought Sasuke back. Sakura had been so happy. Everyone was happy! But now...Naruto had been noticing the weird looks people gave him and his team. As if they somehow didn't belong anywhere in the entire world; let alone Konoha. Granted; most of these looks were meant for Sasuke but Naruto couldn't help but want to take the brunt of their attacks for his teammates. Even Sakura had seemed uncomfortable when they'd walked through the village together.

_What is wrong with the world...?_ Naruto wondered, quickly turning a corner and expertly avoiding a woman and her kid. The woman glared at him and called him a punk. Now _that_ Naruto could understand; he'd almost run her and her child over! What Naruto never understood was the grudge people seemed to have against Team 7.

_Why can't things just go back to normal already!?_

As Naruto arrived at their training grounds, Sasuke and Sakura came into view. They looked impatient but obviously hadn't been waiting very long. Naruto grinned, blushing lightly at Sakura.

"Sorry I'm late again..." Naruto murmured.

Sakura sighed, glancing at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye; "It's alright Naruto. We were all running late today anyways."

Sasuke nodded slightly in response, unable to look either of his teammates in the eyes; afraid they might recognize the pink spreading across his cheeks as something more than the heat. "Hmph..."

Naruto grinned and nodded, "Thanks for not murdering my tardy ass..."

Sakura smiled lightly, "Forget about it; what are teammates for anyways?"

Silence crept over the three young adults, the same thoughts running through their minds. Like; what _are _teammates for? Why can't we seem to do anything right? Why can't things be normal again!?

_Why can't things go back to the way they __**used to be**_...?

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**A/N: **A really cruddy first chapter, but I hope you guys will bear with me. I never was good with beginnings but I tried not to kill this one to much. Please review if you liked or didn't like it or whatever. I just need opinions really! –grin-


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